Thread: Programs available to illegal immigrants

Programs available to illegal immigrants

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Along with other needy families in Washington, illegal immigrants may qualify for help under at least seven programs administered by the state Department of Social and Health Services. In most cases, families must meet federal poverty guidelines to qualify.

Working Connections child care provides child-care services for children who are citizens. The parents' immigration status is irrelevant.

Pregnancy program for women provides prenatal care plus 10 months' family planning after delivery.

Emergency medical program: Mandated and funded by the federal government, it covers emergency-medical services for immigrants. They must meet all Medicaid qualifications but be ineligible for Medicaid because of their immigration status. Welfare reform made most noncitizen immigrants ineligible for Medicaid.

Children's health program resumed coverage this past January after suspending the program in 2003 as a way to save money. It's for noncitizen children under 18 years old whose immigration status makes them ineligible for other medical assistance programs.

Seasonal child care provides child care for seasonal workers who produce crops or harvest trees.

Homeless child care provides short-term child-care services for homeless families as they try to find employment, keep health care or substance-abuse appointments, secure permanent housing or other social services.

Consolidated emergency assistance provides funds to pregnant women and families with children for emergency food, shelter, clothing and medical care. It's available only once in a 12-month period.

Source: Department of Social and Health Services


Initiative would force state to deny some benefits to illegal immigrants
By Lornet Turnbull


Washington voters may be asked to decide in November whether illegal immigrants should be allowed to receive public benefits.

Bob Baker, a Mercer Island resident who heads a group called Protect Washington Now, has filed an initiative to force the state to deny illegal immigrants benefits like those in a handful of programs administered by the Department of Social and Health Services.

One such program provides free prenatal care for poor pregnant women and 10 months' family planning after delivery.

Another subsidizes child-care services for seasonal workers in the state's fruit orchards and tree farms.

Officials say they don't know how many of the state's estimated 136,000 illegal immigrants use these programs — most combine state and federal funding — but they know that many do.

Baker calls that an inappropriate use of his tax dollars.

"They come here and have their babies born at one of our hospitals at our expense; they have it all," said the 53-year-old Alaska Airlines pilot, who ran unsuccessfully for Mercer Island City Council last year.


"And that's the real tragedy. Where does it stop? Do we allow the entire nation of Mexico to come here?"

Baker volunteers with the Minuteman Project, which got its start in Arizona two years ago to spot and report illegal immigrants crossing the border from Mexico.

Critics have called members of the group vigilantes and racist.

Baker said he and his supporters should have no trouble collecting the 224,000 signatures needed to get the issue on the November ballot.

The measure is patterned after one passed by Arizona voters in 2004 that denied public benefits to illegal immigrants and forced residents to prove their citizenship to vote.

It bitterly divided the border state and forced the issue into the forefront nationally. Opponents branded it racist.

In Washington, Baker's initiative would require state employees to verify the immigration status of anyone seeking benefits not mandated by federal law — such as emergency medical care — and to report suspected illegal immigrants to federal immigration authorities.

"Public benefits"

The proposal does not define "public benefits," but Baker said they would fall generally in the categories of health care, the state prison system and education.

Employees and their supervisors would face misdemeanor charges for refusing to report violations. The measure also would allow anyone to bring a suit against state agencies for refusing to enforce the law.

Immigrant advocates say such a measure would spread fear in immigrant communities, making people reluctant to contact authorities or seek emergency help when they need it.

"Washington residents won't stand for this form of imported initiative," said Michael Ramos, co-chairman of From Hate to Hope, a coalition of 40 local groups formed to campaign against the measure.

"They're proposing to deputize social-service providers as immigration agents and hold them accountable for service the state provides, when it will be a rare case that an undocumented person will be provided such a service."

Estimated figure

Nationwide, an estimated 12 million people live in this country illegally, and are not eligible for such benefits as food stamps or Medicaid.

In fact, under changes to the welfare program, even legal immigrants — those here on green cards — are not entitled to such benefits, which are reserved for U.S. citizens.

But many noncitizen immigrants have U.S.-born children who do qualify, and federal law mandates emergency-medical care for everyone — regardless of their immigration status.

Though many states consider the influx a problem of the federal government's making, they are scrambling for ways to mitigate the drain on their resources; they feel it most in their schools and in health care.

Several have proposed legislation and initiatives to cut benefits to illegal immigrants or penalize companies that employ them.

California was the first.

Its Proposition 187, which sought to deny public education and other benefits to that state's expanding population of illegal immigrations, passed in 1994. But a federal judge later overturned major provisions in the measure.

Programs for poor

In Washington, DSHS administers at least seven programs for the state's poor, to which illegal immigrants have access. For those programs available only to citizens, application forms ask whether a person is a citizen to determine his or her eligibility.

Applicants are also asked if they are in this country legally, said Leo Ribas, operations manager and special assistant in DSHS' division of employment and assistance.

Unless citizenship is an eligibility factor for receiving benefits, the immigration status of an otherwise qualified person is not relevant.

In January, the state reinstated a health program for noncitizen children that it discontinued in 2003 in a money-saving move.

The program, with a two-year budget of $21.2 million, provides free health coverage for children whose immigration status makes them ineligible for any other medical programs.

Jim Stevenson, a DSHS spokesman, said that when the state ended the program in 2003, officials had hoped many poor immigrant children would shift to the state's basic health-care plan.

But there were out-of-pocket costs associated with that plan that some families couldn't afford, leaving many without coverage and renewing the need for the program, he said.

Immigration impact

Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which is supporting many of the states' initiatives, said illegal immigration affects everyone.

"People see it in their daily lives — it affects their children's education, their trip to the hospital or the local Home Depot," he said.

"The federal government has dropped the ball on this and states are forced to deal with it because they are the ones paying the bills. It's perfectly legitimate for states to determine how they are going to spend their own money."

Baker thinks that if you dry up benefits for illegal immigrants — including jobs — they will go away. "You either address the supply side or the demand side.

The problem, he said, is most acute in emergency care, which illegal immigrants use for regular care: "They know [emergency rooms] have to accept them."

But advocates say that making immigrants fearful of seeking medical care when they need it poses a health risk that affects everyone.

And the idea that illegal immigrants will simply go away fails to recognize the role they play in the state and national economies.

"The reality is that much of our service sector relies on labor of immigrants — some of whom are documented and some of whom are not," Hate to Hope's Ramos said. "If you want to pull the carpet out from under the economy of this state pass an imitative like this."

Leon Donahue, of the Washingtonians for Immigration Reform, doesn't buy that argument.

"There was a time when Americans — black, white, yellow — were doing these jobs," he said. And Americans would do those jobs again "if employers were willing to pay a decent, living wage."

Lornet Turnbull: 206-464-2420 or lturnbull@seattletimes.com

Even a low income illegal immigrant who somehow ends up on Medicaid or Medicare before or after coming into the USA causes terror and fear to law abiding USa citizens and legal taxpayers because it is causing the USA more taxes to pay for the time and personell to process the paperwork of an illegal immigrant who is cheating the system. This is just like a cheating USA citizen that gets paid cash under the table and then files false tax returns.

I believe that churches can and should provide services such as the ones described here to anyone, regardless of immigration status. That is the role of a church, and they shouldn't be penalized for it. However, I believe it is totally WRONG for public money to be spent on illegal aliens.

Guess what. I am an American Citizen as is my husband and my 2 small children. We do not have health care coverage. It would cost us $1000.00 a month in premiums for insurance and that is of course before the deductable and out of pocket costs. My husband is a veteran and cannot get health care through the VA because we make to much money combined (the annual income limit is $32,000). It is infinitely clear to me why that is. Our entire system, everything, is over burdened. The American citizens are getting the shaft. The middle class is being destroyed.

Take a step back and look at this without the emotions thrown into the mix (I know hard to do).

What in fact is happening is the illegal alien is having his/her status in life improved at the cost of the middle class citizen, therefore bringing down the status of that citizen.

Sounds like redistribution of wealth to me. Now what is the name of that again........ Oh yeah, now I remember. Communism.

You're absolutely right, the middle class is crushed because their top line pre-tax income is TOO HIGH to qualify for any similar programs. That's like valuing a corporation strictly according to revenues, which we all know doesn't work (remember 2000?). The middle class has to pay for EVERYTHING and all that stuff that is necessary like gas, food, health care, etc., just keeps getting more and more expensive. No breaks for the middle class!

It's all well and good to pay high taxes to the government if you get some value out of it at the end of the day. But we get zilch except for this 'safety net' that is heavily exploited by illegals, among others. At least in Sweden and Norway they get decent health care for everyone and have progressive programs that do actually positively affect the middle class.

Rant off.

Rant off.

Welcome Yello!

And what a fine and eloquent rant it was! I hope I can look forward to more of the same.

Middle class? We make less than $25,000.00 yearly, for four and it has DEFINITELY affected us, before it did anyone else. I am not whining, it is just that many people in our income group do not think they can do anything about illegal immigration, and they are the ones it has affected the longest. Their wages have dropped, and the idea of having health care and livable wages has been long gone, for years.

I really wish I could get through to these people, and have them stand up and fight too. This is a big group and they need to speak up.

And, no I do not have health insurance, plus we do not have the income to even consider putting out to see even the most reasonable clinics. The kids, they are fortunately covered by our states health plan. The employer my husband has only offers a plan that would cost us over $600 monthly, that's nearly as much as our rent.

I believe if there were no illegal immigrants in this country, this would not even be an issue with employers, they'd offer better.

Back in the 90s, my wife and I decided to have our 2 children ride the school bus to and from school. We were shocked to find out that the school district was charging $100 per month/child for use of the school bus! Well, we couldn't afford it and continued to drive them to and from. We both worked by the way.

Later that year, we found out (from the local news paper) that immigrants both legal and illegal were getting free bus rides. Not only that but many were being bused to schools that were not in their districts. These children were being bused to upper class schools in expensive neighborhoods. We also learned that the buses often picked these children up at their houses or Apt.s and not at the school bus stops. Talk about a racket.

In 2004 after hurricane Jeanne, my ex-wife had part of her roof blown off. She called me to ask what to do since she had no money to pay for the repairs ($4000) and her insurance had a $5000 deductable. I told her to call FEMA and file an assistance claim.
After a couple of weeks of dealing with some Spanish lady from FEMA, she was denied. But she did receive a blue tarp. They said that her $28,000 salary allowed her to make the repairs herself.
It was later discovered that millions of dollars were given, in fraudulant claims, to Hispanics in the Miami area, where they had nothing more than a thunderstorm compared to the hurricane that hit Palm Beach County.
I ended up giving my ex the money for her roof repairs.

Do not even get me started on FEMA. What a farce. I live in Port St. Lucie. In 2004 the eye of 2 hurricanes (Frances and Jeane) went directly over our city and in 2005 had to deal with Wilma coming across from the other side which was just as bad as the 2 from the year before. We had over $50,000 damage to our home from the first 2 hurricanes not to mention we had to move out while repairs were being done. I tried to go through FEMA but realized very early on that it was a useless cause and had too much to deal with to waste energy on them.

Here is a hint to everyone. If you ever are in a natural disaster do not, I repeat DO NOT count on FEMA for anything. You have to learn to be self sufficient. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and take care of you and yours for they will not.

In fact our local government has figured that out as well and tell all of the citizens of our city do not count on FEMA, they are useless.